I wonder what kind of person Elizabeth was to fall in love at 13 and to have actually made the right decision. Most people twice that age fall in love and end up getting it wrong.

A very strong woman who knew her own mind.

She reminds me of my mother in that regard - Mum was 15 when she meet my father and she went home that evening and told her parents exactly that. They didn't marry for a number of years but she was right - she knew who she wanted and she loved no other man - ever.

I wonder what kind of person Elizabeth was to fall in love at 13 and to have actually made the right decision. Most people twice that age fall in love and end up getting it wrong.

With her family's history she must have known she had to get it right from the time she was old enough to understand what marriage was. Whilst her uncle moved in society circles with international socialites, divorce was never a big thing within the Aristocracy (smitten David notwithstanding). There were "other alternatives".

Philip had to be equally smitten IMO, as with his family's history he had a good idea of what his future would look married to the heir to the throne as opposed to continuing his Royal Navy career, in theory at least, so I think they just hit the jackpot and as, they both came from relatively happy and loving families, they were predisposed to expect a "happy marriage".

65 years of hard work later we see still, a quietly loving couple who have survived, having never given in to the latest "touchy feely" belief that the only happy couples are those given to frequent PDA's to satisfy the a voracious public and media mawkish interest.

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__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes

I read not long ago that Louis Mountbatten pushed Philip in Elizabeth's direction and that otherwise she might have married Lord Porchester (who is rumoured to be Andrew's father...).who was then the heir of the Earl Of Carnarvon and later became the 7th Earl.

Is that the Carnavon's of Highclere Castle AKA "Downton Abbey" on TV?

I've never heard of a Rumor about Andy ... As they have gotten older I think Andrew & Edward look more like their Mum, with Charles & Anne looking more like Dad ... IMO of course!

Well from what has been said over the years, they certainly had their personal trials and problems with each other. I think the difference is they made the commitment to stick it out and have done so.

Nowdays if you don't feel the 'love' the same as you did when you were first together or have problems getting along for awhile people run off to the divorce courts instead of making the commitment to work it out.

Very true - the long line behind the current head-of-the-house would probably be horrified
However, the current Family could only be pleased ... after all the TV Series is bringing in 6 times as many visitors, interest is peaked around the world - not just the UK,(without the show many of us wouldn't even know it existed!), and all of this adds up to enable the estate to continue.
If when I read/hear Carnavon I will always think of DA ... because I looked for information on the estate & have now added it to my list of "must see's".

And yes, I do believe she knew from a very early age what she was expected to do.

Funny you should mention that. I am just tucking into Sally Bedell Smith's book "Elizabeth, the Queen" And in her preface am struck by those very same words. Especially in regards to Prince Philip whom she knew, at 13 she was going to marry.

__________________"Not MGM, not the press, not anyone can tell me what to do."--Ava Gardner

Funny you should mention that. I am just tucking into Sally Bedell Smith's book "Elizabeth, the Queen" And in her preface am struck by those very same words. Especially in regards to Prince Philip whom she knew, at 13 she was going to marry.

That's an interesting point. I just read an article which said that Elizabeth was 14 when she became heiress presumptive of her father. Before that she was just a minor princess because it was expected that her uncle Edward would get suitably married and have children of his own.

So I wonder if at 13 she had any idea that she was falling in love not only with a minor prince who would make a suitable husband for a princess somewhat removed from the line but with a future consort? And did the view on a potential relationship change when she realised she was to become queen one day? Maybe she had already recognized the enormous strength of character in Philip, so this added a whole new level of longing for his support in her difficult future situation.She surely was a girl of her time, not brought up to become queen and she saw her father struggle with his position and duties. She surely recognized the strength her mother offered her father and had seen the weakness of her uncle. So surely this had an influence in her very early conviction that Philip was the right man for her? As it turned out, she was right and if reports of close relatives are to believed, she could always count on Philip to be a source of strength and support. And surely even a queen wants to be cuddled and spolied at home by her husband when in private and in return letting him believe in his maleness?

...an article which said that Elizabeth was 14 when she became heiress presumptive.

Elizabeth was born in 1926. Edward became King and abdicated in 1936. Therefore Elizabeth became heiress presumptive in 1936 aged 10. As the eldest of two daughters with no son she therefore became heiress presumptive on the day of the abdication. She was never a 'minor princess' as from birth until January 1936 she was 3rd in line (the same position Harry is now) and throughout 1936 she was 2nd - the position William is now before moving into 1st position in December 1936.

As her parents ruled out any attempt to try for a son (Elizabeth the Queen Mother by that time was 36 and she had had trouble getting pregnant both times previously anyway - there have been reports that they actually needed to use artificial means to get her pregnant - because of her or him I don't know and she also had to have ceasarians for both deliveries) so from the age of 10 years and 8 months Elizabeth knew that there was an excellent chance that she would be Queen one day.

Falling in love at 13 with her cousin wasn't something she did with an eye for a future consort but simply because she fell in love with a young man - something that happens all the time. That Philip was the ideal consort material for a future Queen as he knew the ropes of royal life, having grown up with it - being related to monarchs, including the British (being a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria himself as is The Queen) and having a grandmother who lived in Kensington Palace - where he often stayed just made it a better match for Elizabeth. Philip's first cousin was also, by then, HRH The Duchess of Kent who was, by 1936, Elizabeth's Aunt Marina having married her father's younger brother..

It was always my understanding as well that the young Elizabeth first fell in love with the 18-year-old Philip when she was 13 on a visit with her family to Dartmouth College where he was a student. He apparently made quite an impression on her as he was showing them around. This is an interesting story from the DM along with a photo of their supposed first meeting at Dartmouth:

I highly doubt that that was the first time they actually saw each other. They definitely both attended the Duke of Kent's wedding and both were frequent visitors to the Kents - whether they ever were there at the same time is of course not known.

I do believe it is the first time they noticed each other in anything other than a 'that's cousin Elizabeth, that's cousin Philip' type of way - like Diana and Charles - knew each other before becoming aware of each other romatically.

Lord Mountbatten was a good friend of the King's who had ambitions for his nephew so it is highly doubtful that he wouldn't have ensure that they were in the same place sometimes in the previous years and he was the one who ensured that Philip was the one who showed Elizabeth and Margaret around.